Omega Race
Reviews Summary C+VG Issue 1 Mastering the Omega Race will number you among the known galaxies' elite space fighter pilots. For this training method was invented originally by the Omega Star System to make its pilots the most respected force around. Sitting in the cockpit of your craft, the city of Komar panoramically spread below you, you must engage and destroy the android forces and the mines they have planted in your path. The player uses a guidance control knob to steer his craft and a thrust button for force to take his craft into the energy field. As the alien droid fleet and its mines fill your screen, pressing the fire button sends out deadly laser rays to destroy the enemy targets. Photon and Vapor mines are worth 350 and 500 points respectively, Droid Ships bring you 1,000 points and the Command Ships 1,500. Most dangerous is the enemy Death Ship which appears at random and has far greater speed and manoeuvrability than the rest of the targets. Its tactic is to bump and demolish the Omega Fighter. Bonus Omega Fighters are awarded for high scores and top scores are kept on the screen for all to challenge. The backdrop of this game, which is distributed by Bally U.K., is impressive but the ship and mine graphics are disappointing by present standards. C+VG Issue 12 Omega Race is that rare thing in computer software — a truly compulsive game. The year is 2003. Aliens are attacking the city of Komar. You must defend the city in your arrow shaped space craft. The game is played using VIC paddles which can be purchased from most VIC dealers at around the £14 mark. The ship is quite difficult to control and at first appears to float around the screen at will. Only after several goes did I discover that the ship will zoom forward in the direction of the arrow if the fire button is kept depressed. The paddle dial turns the ship full circle — the secret being to spin and fire as you move forward — just as in Asteroids. But go steady — as once you have chosen a certain course you will have to fire quickly to clear all the aliens out of your way. Five different types of alien track you around the rectangle in the centre of the screen which displays your score, the current high score and the number of ships you have left. Most deadly are the Death Ships which spin around the screen at great speed and can shoot and manoeuvre. Command ships can also shoot and track you around the rectangle for the most part of the game multiplying in number as the game progresses. Droid ships are slower and easier to kill than Command ships though they will track you with dogged persistence. Just to make things a little more difficult there are also two types of mines — Photon mines and vapour mines dotted around the screen, which are easy to crash into as you race around the screen chasing a Death Ship. The game features an invisible force field at the right and left of the screen which, if you are a skilled player, you can use to your advantage — bouncing off it at full speed and then swivelling to shoot — or to take the corners at full throttle. Omega Race is practically identical to the arcade game of the same name. Playing the game on your VIC-20 is every bit as good as playing the game in an arcade. This is a relatively simple game with not particularly inspiring graphics — they are very geometrically similar to Asteroids graphics. But for sheer playability Omega Race is by far the best game I have played on the VIC-20. Nothing else comes close. Omega Race is the latest addition to Commodore's range of solid state plug in games. Available from VIC dealers at £24.95 inclusive. *'Getting started - 7' *'Value - 8' *'Playability - 9' Category:Arcade Games Category:C+VG Reviews Category:Bally Midway Category:VIC-20 Games Category:Commodore Category:VIC-20 Games scoring 85% or more